Enlarge image
Iranian missile program: The still image from a video of the Iranian state television IRINN shows the launch of an Iranian launch vehicle »Zuljanah«.
Now the satellite carrier »Soldschanah« has been tested
Photo: Uncredited / dpa
Nuclear talks with Iran have been stuck for months.
Now the negotiations should start moving.
However, Iran is still insisting on its missile program.
Shortly before talks resumed, Tehran tested a new launcher for satellites.
The satellite carrier "Soldschanah" was tested for the second time "in order to achieve previously defined research goals," said the spokesman for the space department of the Iranian Defense Ministry, Ahmed Hosseini, on Sunday of the state news agency IRNA.
In February 2021, the ministry reported the first test of the satellite carrier without providing any information on the result.
Hosseini said at the time that the rocket was intended for "research purposes."
It can therefore bring satellites into an orbit at an altitude of 500 kilometers and carry a payload of 220 kilograms.
Iran insists its space program is for civilian and defense purposes only and does not violate the 2015 nuclear deal or other international agreements.
However, Western governments fear that satellite launch systems contain technology that can also be used in ballistic and nuclear-capable missiles.
No date set for nuclear talks
On Saturday, the EU and Iran agreed to resume stalled nuclear talks.
The negotiations are to be resumed “in the coming days”, as EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell and Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said after a one-on-one meeting in Tehran.
However, no exact date was given.
The Vienna talks have been deadlocked since March.
The US and Iran, which have not had diplomatic relations since 1980, accuse each other of blocking talks and communicate indirectly through the EU.
The aim of the Vienna talks is to persuade Washington to return to the 2015 agreement, according to which Iran limits its nuclear activities in exchange for an easing of international sanctions.
The agreement is intended to guarantee that Iran will only use nuclear power for civilian purposes and not, as feared by the West, to build nuclear weapons.
The United States withdrew from the agreement in 2018 under then-President Donald Trump and reinstated sanctions against Iran.
In response, the regime in Tehran has gradually reneged on its commitments.
asc/AFP